Chipper
07-13-2005, 01:43 PM
The NHL and NHL Players' Association finally announced a deal to end the lockout Wednesday, meaning the league could be back in business as early as next week pending ratification by both sides.
The "agreement in principle" came after the two sides met for more than 24 hours straight in New York, the culmination of 10 consecutive days of talks.
The process is not quite over. The players' rank and file and the owners have to ratify the agreement. That is expected some time next week.
Both sides are expected to approve the deal, paving the way for the NHL to reopen for business this fall.
The NHL and NHLPA said details of the agreement will not be released pending ratification.
But it's believed the six-year deal contains the following:
- A 24 per cent salary rollback on all existing contracts;
- The upper limit on the salary cap for 2005-06 will be $39 million US while the minimum floor will be at $21.5 million, based on projected revenues of $1.8 billion;
- A percentage of salaries will be put into escrow until the new salary cap can be calculated at the end of each season;
- No player can earn more than 20 per cent of the team cap, which for 2005-06 means no player can earn more than $7.4 million;
The game will return looking drastically different both on and off the ice. A vastly different and complicated collective bargaining agreement has given owners their long-desired "cost certainty."
Teams will come back looking vastly different as well. Mass player movement is expected with a high number of free agents on the market as well as several high-paid players expected to get bought out so teams can fit under the cap.
On the ice, major rules changes are being examined which will hopefully open up the game and create more excitement, likely including the reduction in the size of goalie equipment, allowing the two-line pass, and the penalty shootout to decide tie games during the regular season.
And there's much work ahead to lure back bitter fans and an apathetic corporate community.
A source also said Wednesday that the belated 2005 NHL entry draft will be held in Ottawa on Saturday, July 30, although it will be a much smaller event with only the very top prospects invited, including Sidney Crosby, the consensus No. 1 pick.
The draft lottery is slated to be conducted during a board of governors meeting next week in New York where the owners are also expected to ratify the deal.
In the end, the players caved in on an issue they swore they never would: the salary cap.
It's clear this isn't a deal NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow was in favour of but he went along with it, respecting the wishes of union president Trevor Linden and the rest of the players' executive committee.
It's been a long and tumultuous road towards a resolution. From the first labour meeting in January 2003 to the last on Wednesday, both sides met 82 times over two and a half years before finally agreeing on a new deal.
The lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season, including all 1,230 regular-season games, denying hockey fans a Stanley Cup champion for the first time since a flu epidemic cancelled the 1919 final. The NHL became the first major professional league in North America to loose a season from beginning to end because of labour strife.
Once commissioner Gary Bettman announced the season cancelled Feb. 16, both sides returned to the negotiating table March 11 in the first of 44 meetings aimed at making sure the 2005-06 season wouldn't be delayed.
The two sides met every single week starting in early May and didn't let up until the end, cramming in long days in the final six weeks in an effort to finally get it done.
A number of player agents are angry with Goodenow, feeling betrayed by his strategy from the get-go.
But while the owners appear to have scored a one-sided victory, it remains to be seen at what cost. The damage to the industry from not having any hockey played for a year may have both sides singing the blues.
© The Canadian Press 2005
The "agreement in principle" came after the two sides met for more than 24 hours straight in New York, the culmination of 10 consecutive days of talks.
The process is not quite over. The players' rank and file and the owners have to ratify the agreement. That is expected some time next week.
Both sides are expected to approve the deal, paving the way for the NHL to reopen for business this fall.
The NHL and NHLPA said details of the agreement will not be released pending ratification.
But it's believed the six-year deal contains the following:
- A 24 per cent salary rollback on all existing contracts;
- The upper limit on the salary cap for 2005-06 will be $39 million US while the minimum floor will be at $21.5 million, based on projected revenues of $1.8 billion;
- A percentage of salaries will be put into escrow until the new salary cap can be calculated at the end of each season;
- No player can earn more than 20 per cent of the team cap, which for 2005-06 means no player can earn more than $7.4 million;
The game will return looking drastically different both on and off the ice. A vastly different and complicated collective bargaining agreement has given owners their long-desired "cost certainty."
Teams will come back looking vastly different as well. Mass player movement is expected with a high number of free agents on the market as well as several high-paid players expected to get bought out so teams can fit under the cap.
On the ice, major rules changes are being examined which will hopefully open up the game and create more excitement, likely including the reduction in the size of goalie equipment, allowing the two-line pass, and the penalty shootout to decide tie games during the regular season.
And there's much work ahead to lure back bitter fans and an apathetic corporate community.
A source also said Wednesday that the belated 2005 NHL entry draft will be held in Ottawa on Saturday, July 30, although it will be a much smaller event with only the very top prospects invited, including Sidney Crosby, the consensus No. 1 pick.
The draft lottery is slated to be conducted during a board of governors meeting next week in New York where the owners are also expected to ratify the deal.
In the end, the players caved in on an issue they swore they never would: the salary cap.
It's clear this isn't a deal NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow was in favour of but he went along with it, respecting the wishes of union president Trevor Linden and the rest of the players' executive committee.
It's been a long and tumultuous road towards a resolution. From the first labour meeting in January 2003 to the last on Wednesday, both sides met 82 times over two and a half years before finally agreeing on a new deal.
The lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season, including all 1,230 regular-season games, denying hockey fans a Stanley Cup champion for the first time since a flu epidemic cancelled the 1919 final. The NHL became the first major professional league in North America to loose a season from beginning to end because of labour strife.
Once commissioner Gary Bettman announced the season cancelled Feb. 16, both sides returned to the negotiating table March 11 in the first of 44 meetings aimed at making sure the 2005-06 season wouldn't be delayed.
The two sides met every single week starting in early May and didn't let up until the end, cramming in long days in the final six weeks in an effort to finally get it done.
A number of player agents are angry with Goodenow, feeling betrayed by his strategy from the get-go.
But while the owners appear to have scored a one-sided victory, it remains to be seen at what cost. The damage to the industry from not having any hockey played for a year may have both sides singing the blues.
© The Canadian Press 2005